A Melbourne based music blog….

Monthly Archives: October 2009

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Today is Halloween, the day when Australian children are bittlerly dissapointed that that don’t live in America where people actually give out lollies and the words “too American” aren’t thrown about every two seconds.

I thought I would celebrate by posting some Zombie Ghost Train. Zombie Ghost Train are a really fun pyschobilly band who sing songs about being a zombie and perform wearing zombie make-up. Very cool indeed.

Although I was impressed by what very little of Oh Mercy’s material I had heard, the real reason why I bought Oh Mercy’s In The Nude For Love EP was because I liked the title. And I really hope I’m not the only one, firstly because it would make me think that I’m not completely crazy for buying CDs based on their titles, and secondly, because it’s one of the best local releases I’ve heard all year.

Oh Mercy make the kind of dreamy pop music that even your Grandmother would probably appreciate (although they drop the f-bomb in Seems Like a Good Idea, so unless you have a really cool granny, perhaps not). It is very easy to see why they’ve been compared to the likes of The Go-Betweens and Augie March.

The band have also released an album Privileged Woes. While I am yet to hear it (I’m buying it as a “you survived your exams and didn’t go mental” present to myself in a few weeks), the first single Get You Back is a brilliant slice of laid-back pop music that will get stuck in your head. So don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Sorry about the lack of posting lately. I’m not dead, only studying, which is much, much worse. If you have any complaints you can send them to VCAA, preferably along with some anthrax

Anyway, there are a couple of all ages events in Melbourne coming up which I highly recommend you go to if you enjoy your gigs drug, smoke and alcohol free, or are forced to because LIQUOR LICENCING LAWS ARE STUPID!

Ahem.

The first one is a battle of the bands. The bands are The Refunds, Sheer Abandon, Mercey, Thieves in Law. I’ve only heard the The Refunds, who are great fun live and I reckon it’ll be worth going just to see them. The gig is happening on Friday the 30th at the Camberwell Civic Centre. Entry is $10 or $8 with Halloween costume. Doors open at six and bands start at seven. I’ll be working on cloak for most of the night, so make sure you come and say hi.

The second event is for us folks who didn’t get a school formal because of the bad (read drunken) behavior of the year above us, who get a formal anyway. It’s a Parody Prom and there will be daggy costumes, ice swans and a daggy DJ. The Rhetorics will also be playing and chances are they will cause some kind of ruckus. While it may sound a bit lame, tickets are selling fast and there will over 200 people attending and it’ll be heaps of fun. It’ll be on the 6th of November at the Hawthorne own Hall.

I should have more posts for you sometime soon, depending on exams, sleep deprivation, stress and my ridiculous workload. In the meantime, you can checkout the blogs in my blogroll. Just make sure you have plenty of download limit…there are a lot of great mp3s to be found.

After the release of their epic folk-opera The Hazards of Love the Decemberists are coming to Australia for the first time. They will be playing the Big Day Out(yay!) as well as a couple of sideshows which are:

There’s one big problem with Young Werther’s Treasure mini-album. It isn’t long enough.

Hell, even if it was a 2 hour long double album it wouldn’t be enough.

You see, Young Werther (A.K.A Mick Young) makes the kind of folk music you can get lost in. Full of delicate melodies and the kind of poetic lyrics that make you want to keep listening just to see what is coming next, Treasure is as close to a perfect EP as you can get.

Bird Made of Ice is a heart-breakingly beautiful song and is a good indicator of what is to come next. Brother’s In Harm’s Way is the catchiest track on the EP and conjours up images of country towns and old men telling each other stories in their pubs(which is no surprise considering Mick Young is from rural Victoria). The real centerpiece of the EP however, is Cornish Green which makes the acoustic guitar sound like the world’s most exciting instrument, as well as his usual standard of fantastic lyrics.

Why Young Werther isn’t seen as one of Australia’s best songwriters is beyond me, however if he continues releasing music this good, hopefully he’ll get the recognition he deserves.

Horchata is a drink made from ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice and barley. It is also the name of Vampire Weekend’s new single which they’ve been nice enough to relase as a free download.

Although reaching the heights of their slightly patchy but incrediby fun debut album was always going to be a massive task, Horchata is hopefully an indication of what is to come because it’s sounding pretty damn good.

Admittetly, It isn’t a huge departure from their earlier sound, however there is a notable absence of guitars and more of an emphisis on percussion, which comes curtesy of Mauro Refosco who recently joined Thom Yorke’s band.

On another note, Vampire Weekend are coming to Sydney to play a show on the 21st of November. I don’t really see why they would come to Australia to play just one show, especially since it’s all the way over in the arse-end of world. Anyway, if someone knows, that would be great.

Horchata can be downloaded from the band’s website. And they even give you an option to download it without haivng to sign up for anything. Other bands should take note.

It’s no secret that I love Yves Klein Blue. They are probably one of the more exciting Aussie bands at the moment and they can go from rockabilly to indie to country, almost seamlessly.

Make Up Your Mind is the first track from their debutalbum Ragged & Ecstatic and was also available for free download through their Twitter promotion. It’s probably the most poppy track on the album and does get a bit annoying once you’ve heard it 20,000 times, which probably makes it perfect for radio.

This is the new video from these guys and it’s worth a look. I can totally imagine Mr Cho liking this 😉